SEI and Redtail Collaborate on DOL Fiduciary Compliance Solution

The SEI Advisor Network and Redtail Technology have
partnered to create a toolkit that aims to help financial advisers comply with
the Department of Labor’s (DOL)’s fiduciary rule, which takes effect in April
2017.

The DOL Workflow Toolkit will provide financial advisers
with systematized workflows that help assess business readiness and demonstrate
compliance with the DOL rule through a variety of processes, such as moving
from commission- to fee-based investments, the firms say.

The solution implemented through Redtail interacts with
other customer relationship management (CRM) software as well as tools outside
this technology to help advisers navigate the changing regulatory landscape, while
also driving strategic business visions. It uses four total workflows with
accompanying resources to help track advisers’ progress, while also creating an
auditable business by documenting client interactions in their CRMs.

“Everyone is talking about the DOL rule in our industry, but
we still have advisers asking what it truly means, what they should be doing, and
how they can get help,” says John Anderson, managing director for the SEI
Advisor Network. “There has always been value in holistically using a CRM for
both advisers and clients, but there’s a compliance reason for advisers to do
so now, and there is no better time to prepare for the upcoming implementation
of the DOL rule. It’s vital for advisers to have the workflows set in place to
execute a plan for their clients and demonstrate compliance with the rule.”

SEI Advisor Network and Redtail’s DOL Action Plan process
begins with a planning meeting, which advisers are recommended to complete by
the end of 2016. Afterward, advisers should be able to identify their DOL fiduciary rule
strategies, and audit and segment each household into an appropriate scenario
which may include holding an account in a product/solution using a best interest contract (BIC) exemption, or orphaning an account.

SEI and Redtail are the latest firms to offer solutions designed
to help advisers navigate the regulatory playing field that will grow out of
the DOL’s implementation of its fiduciary rule. Others include PCS, Impact Financial Systems (IFS),
Envestnet, and fi360.